The Zioneer Intelligence Desk released an image showing the wreckage of one of two Russian Su-35 fighter jets that crashed in Kursk Oblast on Monday evening. The image was posted alongside a caption confirming the aircraft was among those lost in the incident, which Russian media earlier reported as a mid-air collision.
At 22:54 Jerusalem, The Zioneer Intelligence Desk released an image showing the wreckage of one of two Russian Su-35 fighter jets that crashed in Kursk Oblast on Monday evening, providing visual confirmation of the loss. The image, captioned as showing "one of the Russian Su-35 jets that fell today in Kursk Oblast," was published hours after the incident was first reported.
The sequence of reports unfolded rapidly. At 21:22 Jerusalem, initial reports monitored by The Zioneer indicated that two Su-35s had been shot down in a planned surface-to-air missile ambush. At 21:51 Jerusalem, Russian media outlets corrected the account, stating that the two advanced jets collided in mid-air and crashed. The image release now corroborates the loss of at least one aircraft, though the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Russian authorities have yet to issue an official statement.
The Su-35 is the Russian Air Force's premier fourth-generation multirole fighter, and each loss represents a significant operational and reputational setback. As The Zioneer reported on July 8, Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down a Russian Su-35 over Zaporizhzhia, though the claim remained unverified at the time. That incident, along with other reported Su-35 losses, underscores the continued attrition of Russia's advanced combat aircraft inventory.
The fate of the pilots from the Kursk crash remains unconfirmed. No additional details on the extent of damage to the second aircraft have been released. The investigation into the cause — whether a mid-air collision or other factors — is ongoing, with no official Russian statement yet.
4 developments
Source and signal
- Open-source intake